​ECO VALLEY

The Limari Valley is hot and relatively dry. It is cooler and greener than the land on either side of it, thanks almost entirely to the narrow gap the Limari River has created in the coastal hills. On either side of this gap, the coastal ranges rise to almost 2300ft (700m), preventing cooling Pacific breezes from reaching inland areas. 

On summer mornings, the coastal "Camanchaca" fog creeps through the gap and up into the valley. The fog refreshes the local vineyards with cool, moist air for much of the morning, until the sun has risen above the Andes and begins re-establishing the warm, dry, desert-like conditions with which northern Chile is more often associated.

The limestone soil types found in the Limari Valley are rare in Chilean terroirs. They are the result of former seabeds that have been raised by tectonic activity into the Andes, then gradually washed downstream by glaciers and rivers to the plains and valleys below.